Sex ed for teens: birth control is still off-limits for some

Nearly every American teenager has had sex ed classes by the time he or she leaves high school — but only about two-thirds of teens are getting education about birth control, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Girls are more likely than boys to get birth control lessons — 70 percent of them are told about birth control methods in sex ed classes, compared to 62 percent of boys.

Girls are also more likely to talk to their parents about sex — or at least their parents are more likely to lecture them about it. Half of teenaged girls reported talking to their parents about birth control, compared to 31 percent of boys. Nearly two-thirds of girls said they’ve talked to their parents about how to say no to sex — only 42 percent of boys reported having had that conversation with mom or dad.

The statistics come from face-to-face interviews with about 13,500 people of both sexes ages 15 to 24. Participants were interviewed sometime in 2006-08, and asked about their sex education between ages 15 and 19.

A previous survey was taken in 2002, and according to the CDC, results didn’t change much from 2002 and 2008.

The statistics are likely to be somewhat different in California, where public health officials have long rejected programs that offer abstinence-only sex education. Most California public schools teach birth control methods in addition to talking to teens about the benefits of abstinence.